Rotuma High School will make its return to the 2024 Crest Chicken Fiji Secondary School Netball Championship after a decade-long absence. Fiji Secondary School netball president Navitalai Naivalu announced that RHS must first complete in the maritime rally to qualify for the nationals, scheduled to take place from August 21-23 at the National Netball Centre in Suva.
“There are no automatic qualifiers,” Naivalu emphasized. “Schools like Adi Maopa from Lau, Koro, Gau, and Kadavu have confirmed their participation.”
RHS manager Lorraine Wesley revealed that the school will compete in the Under-17 division, fielding a team of 17 players.
Getting to Viti Levu posed challenges, and the community came together to raise the $7,000 needed to participate in the annual schools’ netball tournament. “We had two kava barrels at the Itumuta community hall to fundraise for our funds for the tournament,” Wesley shared.
Wesley is optimistic about scheduling two friendly matches against Kalabu Secondary and Gospel High schools prior to the Maritime rally on August 19 at the NNC in Suva. “Our principal has been in touch with the two schools, but we haven’t received any confirmation as we just arrived today,” she noted.
All the Under-17 players are currently in Year 11. “We are entering as underdogs, as there is much for us to learn, and it’s going to be a learning experience for the girls,” she explained. “We have expectations, but we’ll see how the girls perform in terms of confidence and exposure, as it will be their first time playing against other schools.”
Wesley believes the rally will provide a valuable opportunity for the players to build confidence and assess their competitiveness. “We’ll take it one step at a time. We never know, perhaps one or two of them could represent Fiji in netball in the future.”
She is encouraging RHS alumni to come out in large numbers to support the girls during the competition.